


The 50th Floor

by bazaar



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-12
Updated: 2015-07-12
Packaged: 2018-04-09 01:03:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4327905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bazaar/pseuds/bazaar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a dream job becomes an <i>actual</i> job—you might want to check your pulse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The 50th Floor

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this idea for a while, and it's kind of a departure from the silly stuff I usually write (not angst or anything, that'll happen eventually…)
> 
> I'm also really surprised at myself for completing two things this quickly. I honestly don't think I've ever been this efficient before lol
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!
> 
>  **Edit:** I forgot to mention this before, but I got the idea for this whole story because of [this picture](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/22/article-0-0B4D591E000005DC-905_634x399.jpg) of Licia Ronzulli, an Italian MEP, who brought her daughter to work a whole bunch and it's so adORABLE.
> 
> I just kinda felt like Asami would do the same thing.

When he'd shown up for his first day on the job, Shao had no idea what to expect.

By some miraculous set of circumstances, he'd been offered the most incredible job opportunity the summer before his final year at Capital City University. The Fire Nation was the only home he'd ever known, raised amongst the black and red, the light skin and golden eyes of his peers. It was comfortable in the city, and even more so in his hometown near the Black Cliffs—only a few hours' drive from the university.

So when he'd been home, visiting his family, and a messenger hawk had touched down right in front of the house that effectively changed the course of his life, well…

He really had no idea what to think.

He'd shown his parents, his younger siblings, stammering and mostly incoherent. He'd given his mother the letter, whose bright eyes had welled up with tears. His father read it next, and had clapped him on the back, beaming with pride. His brother and sister were too young to make much of the whole ordeal, but they understood that this sheet of paper meant that their older brother was leaving the Fire Nation.

The night he'd received the letter, he'd pored over it again and again, rereading the black letters until his eyes stung.

_Mr. Himura,_

_We are pleased to inform you that your application has been accepted. Your determination and potential in this field are the assets we are looking for in this new venture._

_Please mail us with your response as soon as possible._

_Cordially,_

_Akira Ito_  
_Chair of Research & Development_  
_Future Industries_

The next morning, he'd sent his response and spent the entire day, and every subsequent day, with his family, getting his all of his turtleducks in a row. Not a week later, a slick black and red Satomobile had arrived at his door.

His goodbyes had been tearful, and he'd felt like there was a swarm of buzzard wasps invading his chest cavity all the way to Republic City. Republic City, which Shao had not expected to be so… integrated.

He'd heard stories about the way Future Industries had spearheaded the effort to combine the needs of humans and spirits in the city. He'd read articles about the subway systems that had employed thousands of earthbenders, the way the spirits had been more than happy to help fill new parks and ponds with energy and life, and just how seamless the transition had been from purely an industrial mecca to both that, and essentially _the_ spiritual base of operations.

But all of the papers and all of the hearsay in the world could not have prepared him for just how incredible the city was.

Those stories had been the reason he'd gone to school for engineering and business, the reason he'd wanted so badly to work for the company that had effectively changed the way people lived, forever. Now, all of his wildest dreams were coming to fruition.

He was terrified.

His driver, a middle-aged man named Taka, gave him a room key once they'd arrived, and informed him that all of his expenses had been taken care of, and that he'd be staying in one of the city's finest hotels. Future Industries Tower, Taka had explained, was a quick walk from his new residence, and he was expected in the board room on the fiftieth floor the next morning.

When Taka had left, and Shao was sitting on the massive bed in his suite, he'd tried to take it all in. It was so overwhelming, he spent two hours just staring out of the window, analyzing the view he had of the city. The sprawling expanse of buildings, many covered in thick spirit vines, all surrounding the beacon of yellow light—the new spirit portal.

Shao had never been a spiritual man, but something about just how perfectly the portal fit amongst the city made him feel like he'd stepped into another world altogether.

The next morning, he'd woken up several hours too early, early enough for the sun to still be hiding under the horizon. He'd showered, shaved, and pulled himself into the best suit he owned—a traditional Fire Nation outfit he'd received as a graduation gift.

Taka had told him when to be in the board room, but he assumed it would behoove him to get there early. His nerves had become increasingly frayed as the morning dragged on, so breakfast was all he could manage to stomach: half an apple and a cup of jasmine tea from the lobby.

He'd sipped his tea on the way to Future Industries Tower, getting his first good look at the building as he made his journey towards it. To call it intimidating would have been entirely too gentle. He'd read about its architecture. Fifty floors of rebar and concrete, made to look both imposing and beautiful, and he'd be right at the top.

The building was already bustling with activity, and the elevator ride to the fiftieth floor had been cramped for the first thirty floors of his ascent. After floor thirty-four, he'd been left with one other man, standing silently on the other side of the elevator.

He needed some form of human contact before what might have easily been the biggest meeting of his life.

"Excuse me," Shao began, voice rusty with disuse, "are you going to the fiftieth floor?"

The man turned, and it was a small comfort to see the distinctly Fire Nation features across his face, even if he didn't give a smile.

"I am," the man said, and for a moment, Shao figured that that was all he was going to get out of him. But, after a beat, "You look new, kid."

Shao nodded. "My first day. They wanted me in the board room, but… I'm not exactly sure what that means."

The man shrugged. "I don't understand too much of what goes on here," he said, absently scratching his chin with a scarred hand that instantly reminded Shao of some of the elders in his town. The ones who had participated in the long-defunct tradition of the Agni Kai. "I'm just visiting a friend."

The man was friendly enough, a little severe, maybe, but nothing seemed to be helping the knot that had been tightening in Shao's stomach.

The ding of the elevator, signaling their arrival, definitely didn't help either.

Shao stepped out first, and was about to thank the man for his conversation, however short, when the other man spoke.

"Don't worry," he said, like it would be easy. "They've got good people working here." He stuck out his hand, the uninjured one, and Shao took it for a firm handshake.

It seemed a little ominous to leave on that note, without even knowing the guy's name, but then Shao was alone, save for the receptionist to his right. He took a deep breath in a feeble attempt to steady himself.

"Good morning," he said, walking up to the man at the desk with what he could only hope was some semblance of a smile. "I'm here for the meeting?"

He was a burly man, too big for the desk they'd put him at, but he gave Shao a smile that reached his friendly blue eyes, and it didn't really seem to fit the rest of him. "Shao Himura?" Shao nodded. "Yep, got your name badge right here. You're early, but I assumed you would be—first day and all."

"Am I too early? I can just—"

"No, no, you're fine," the man said, handing Shao his name tag. It was heavy, shiny, and metallic. "You can wait over there by the window if you want. Mrs. Sato's got a meeting before this one, but I think the other people will be getting here shortly."

Shao froze. "Wh–what?" he stammered, and then trying to pull together the remaining shreds of his brain, "You… you said _Mrs. Sato?_ "

"What, they didn't tell you?" Shao shook his head furiously. "Huh, I thought there was a memo… Anyway, Mrs. Sato's in on all the meetings, or at least, tries to be. She likes meeting the new employees, too, and there's a couple other newbies coming in today."

The words caught in his throat. Shao didn't— _couldn't_ formulate any kind of response. Instead, he just nodded dumbly at the receptionist and went to sit in the corner by the window.

He stared at the lines in the tile floor. The CEO of the most powerful company in the entire world would be at the meeting. To meet him. In a matter of minutes.

Shao had not planned for this. He'd assumed that he'd be meeting with a few assistants-to-assistants, and maybe a department head, but the owner of the entire company? No. No, not really.

He'd had heroes as a kid, before he'd realized that he couldn't bend, like most of his family. He'd hoped, when he was young, that he'd be the first in his line to firebend, to fight like the legendary Lord Zuko, or his uncle before him—the Dragon of the West—or any number of other bending legends he'd heard about in his books.

It had been easy, though, as he grew older, to accept his status, especially when he'd found such joy in math and machines. He'd taken apart toasters and alarm clocks, and even the oven once to discover how they all worked. He knew from a young age that he didn't need bending.

The faces of his heroes had changed over the years, from fighters and warriors, to intellectuals and scientists. He'd admired the inventions of the Mechanist, the writings of the late Chief Sokka, the ideas upon ideas produced by the enigmatic Varrick and his wife Zhu Li, and, of course, the infamous Hiroshi Sato. If not for the scandal, the deception, the lies… Shao knew that he'd still hold the man in high regard. He'd invented the very thing that had set the future into motion.

However, Shao would have been disappointed if Sato's legacy had ended there. It hadn't, though.

His daughter had dragged the Sato name out of the mud, and built and rebuilt the world's greatest company many times over. She, above every other nonbender Shao had ever looked up to, was his biggest and most inspiring hero.

And he was going to meet her.

He wanted to throw up.

Apparently, he'd been staring at the floor for long enough to pass the entire waiting time, all of the people filing into the waiting area and then the board room, so the receptionist called to him: "Hey, Shao? Everyone's gone in."

 _Shit._ "Oh! Um, just now?"

"Yeah, a couple of minutes ago. You've just kind of been staring at the floor... You alright to go in there?"

Shao bolted up, pulling his briefcase and his papers together and rushing towards the door. "I'm fine, thank you sir!" he called, opening the massive wood and steel door to what had to be the biggest table he'd ever seen.

There were at least twenty other people in the room, all setting their things up in their respective chairs at the massive conference table, so thankfully, no one noticed his harried entrance. He took a seat, trying desperately to relax when he angled his gaze to the end of the table.

Five seats away from him, sat Asami Sato.

Every thought he'd had over the course of the morning went flying out of his mind the moment he laid eyes on her. She was so… regal, so intimidating, so powerful, so put-together, she looked like she could hold the entire world in the palm of her hand (and, really, she did), she had… a toddler in her lap.

It took Shao a moment to regain his composure, but when he did, he tried again to better take in the scenario.

Mrs. Sato and the little girl in her lap were both looking up at a man standing beside them. The little girl was reaching up for the man, and it was only when he reached back and shook her tiny hand with his own, scarred one, that Shao realized—it was the same guy from the elevator.

He felt intrusive, watching this moment between the three of them, all smiling and laughing. But the moment broke when the man leaned down to hug the little girl, and then Mrs. Sato, before waving and making his way out of the room.

"Bye-bye Uncle Mako!" the little girl called, waving her hands high above her head, narrowly missing Mrs. Sato's smiling face.

 _Uncle Mako?_ Shao blanched. Mako, one-half of the Fabulous Bending Brothers, one-third of the Future Industries Fire Ferrets, a quarter of the new Team Avatar. _How_ had he not realized who the guy was? He'd even had a crush on him in high school when he'd seen the Fire Ferrets in the paper, for spirits' sake!

Fortunately or unfortunately, the chatter in the room died down, cutting off his inner monologue before he had the chance to berate himself any longer.

"Good morning everyone!" Mrs. Sato greeted the room with a smile, as the little girl adjusted herself in her lap. "Before we get started, I'd like to thank you all for coming. I know how hard you've all been working, and I am sorry we had to plan this meeting so early." She scanned the room, and for a moment, her eyes landed on Shao before moving on. "I'd also like to welcome our new colleagues on to the team. We have Nuvuk, from here in the city," A woman, around Shao's age stood, waving to the room. "Bai, from Omashu," Another, serious-looking woman stood and nodded to the room. "…and Shao, from Capital City."

It took a moment, but Shao stood abruptly, bowing deeply to the room before sitting down in a hurry.

"Welcome! I think we're all very excited to have you three on. I know I am."

From there, the meeting went off without a hitch. Mrs. Sato started the discussion, but it seemed as if she preferred to let her employees speak up with their own thoughts and opinions more often than not. She took extensive notes, watching every person who spoke with careful interest, only interjecting to provide meaningful questions.

It was the kind of collaborative work environment Shao had always dreamed of being a part of.

On Mrs. Sato's lap still sat the little girl, doodling in a notebook. She was adorable. Black wispy swirls of hair adorned her head, and she had beautiful green eyes, a shade darker than Mrs. Sato's. She reminded Shao of his little sister when she was younger, round cheeks and chubby hands and a mouth that hung open when she concentrated. Her hair was the same color as his sister's, but her brown skin was in stark contrast to his sister's light complexion.

Every so often, Mrs. Sato would lean down to press a kiss to the top of the girl's head, or take a moment to admire what she was doing. There was nothing but love, whole and pure, in the woman's eyes, and it was when he saw that, that Shao remembered hearing about Mrs. Sato's daughter once in the paper.

There hadn't been much about it, just that Mrs. Sato and her wife had gone to the Earth States and returned with a baby girl in tow, an orphan from a ransacked village. The media, Shao had assumed, would have wanted to eat the news up, but then again, he'd heard next to nothing about when Ms. Sato had become _Mrs._ Sato. The woman apparently liked to keep her private life private. Which was something of a miracle when she and her wife were, without a doubt, the two most powerful and well-known women in the world.

Shao could respect that. It wasn't Fire Nation custom to be so open, so he'd often kept family matters to himself. _He_ wasn't the Avatar or the CEO of Future Industries, though.

After what could have been an hour, or maybe a couple of minutes—Shao wasn't sure, his note-taking and careful listening had been pretty all-encompassing—the meeting began to wind down. There was more laughter, more jokes thrown around, and eventually, Mrs. Sato, or rather, _Ms._ Sato stopped the meeting altogether _ _.__

"You want to show everyone what you drew?" Mrs. Sato asked her daughter, who nodded with her entire upper body in response. The room laughed, and the little girl grinned from ear to ear.

She held up her masterpiece, but her arms wobbled as she did so. "Mommy, can you hold it for me please?"

Mrs. Sato obliged. Suddenly, Shao felt much less nervous and intimidated. The woman might have been his boss, but _her_ boss was sitting in her lap, pointing at stick figures.

"…this one is me, 'n this is Mommy, 'n that's Mama."

"And what's Mama throwing, 'Suko?"

"Not _throwing_ , Mommy. It's a rock."

"Oh, _bending._ Got it. Go on, sweetie."

The little girl looked pleased. She pointed to a white blob with a smiley face. "That's Naga, 'n that's Pup Pup!" She motioned toward another, smaller white blob. "It's my family!"

The room cheered and clapped, and Shao couldn't help but join in. His smile wasn't faked, and he didn't feel like anyone else in the room was faking their excitement, either. The little Ms. Sato had to be the most charming little girl Shao had met (outside of his own family, of course.)

One of the older women in the room leaned forward, pointing at the picture with a smile. "I know of Naga, but who is Pup Pup, Yasuko?"

Yasuko looked up at her mother, who nodded toward the older woman. "Tell Mrs. Li about Pup Pup."

"Naga is Pup Pup's mommy," Yasuko said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Mama let me name Pup Pup. _And_ Pup Pup likes peanut butter like _I_ like peanut butter."

"The two of them manage to find the peanut butter no matter where we hide it. They're peanut butter _detectives._ "

"Like Uncle Mako!"

Mrs. Sato laughed, and the room followed. "Just like Uncle Mako."

Yasuko shuffled the papers around on the table. "I drew him too!"

Like before, Mrs. Sato held up her daughter's work while she pointed at the figures. "That's Uncle Mako, 'n that's Uncle Bolin, 'n that's Auntie Opal, 'n that's Gramma 'n Grampa. Gramma and Grampa live in the snow, so I put a snowflake—" She pointed to a triangle in the corner with a few extra lines, "—there."

Again, the room cheered, but this time, the meeting was adjourned afterwards.

Shao felt calm, calmer than he'd felt in weeks. The room around him was bustling with chatter and laughter as people filed out. Shao however, felt an urge to formally introduce himself. He walked to the front of the room, where Mrs. Sato sat, helping her daughter clean up her drawings. She looked up for a moment, and smiled up at him.

"Hello. Shao, right?"

"Yes ma'am," he said, bowing deeply. "I wanted to sincerely thank you for this opportunity, Mrs. Sato."

She was still smiling as she stood, coming up a good inch above him. "I've heard great things about your research at CCU. I'm sure you'll do wonderfully here."

He smiled back, and it felt oddly normal to be talking to his greatest hero, right in front of him, in the flesh. "I also wanted to thank Ms. Sato for sharing her amazing artwork with everyone," He smiled down at little Yasuko, who stared at him for a moment before looking to her mother for approval.

"That's you, sweetheart."

She looked shocked. "Nuh-uh. _You're_ Ms. Sato."

"I'm _Mrs._ Sato, and so is Mama."

Yasuko frowned for a moment, eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Because Mama and I are married. Remember, you asked about our necklaces?"

"I'm not married?"

Mrs. Sato laughed, and Shao had to as well, Yasuko looked so bewildered.

"No, love, and if Mama has it her way you'll never _get_ married."

Yasuko gasped. " _Why?_ "

Mrs. Sato chuckled, collecting her things. "I'm just kidding, 'Suko. She just wants to protect you, and so do I," she said and bent down, pulling the little girl up into her arms. She planted a loud kiss her cheek, and Yasuko giggled. "Would you like to say thank you to Mr. Himura for his compliment? He liked your pictures."

Yasuko beamed at Shao, and he couldn't stem the swell of pride he felt, even if the approval came from a little girl. "Thank you Mr. Himura! I can draw you a picture one day."

Shao bowed to them, smiling. "I would love that, Ms. Sato."

He bowed once more as he left, and waved back at little Yasuko as he exited the door.

The building was still busy, and so were the streets of Republic City, but it really didn't bother him any longer. He'd just met the woman he'd looked up to for the better half of his life, and her adorable daughter, and he'd felt like he'd been at a family dinner for the past few hours instead of a meeting with some of the most powerful people in the world.

The nerves were gone, and the day was young, and for now, he didn't need to know what to expect.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> You can also find me on this tumblr that I just made (that still has like nothing on it): [bazaarwords](http://bazaarwords.tumblr.com)


End file.
